) 


V? 


CENTENNIAL 

ANNIVERSARY 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN  TRACT 
SOCIETY 


MAY  EIGHTEENTH 
NINETEEN  TWENTY^FIVE 
HOTEL  BILTMORE 
NEW  YORK  CITY 


\ 


Centennial  Anniversary 

of  the 

American  Tract  Society 


May  i8, 1925 
Hotel  Biltmore 
New  York  City 


f  •  . 


■  i 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Columbia  University  Libraries 


I 

i 


4 


https://archive.org/details/centennialanniveOOamer 


FOREWORD 


When  plans  were  being  made  for  the  Centennial  celebra¬ 
tion  of  the  American  Tract  Society  three  facts  were  carefully 
considered.  The  Society  now  enjoys,  as  for  a  century,  an 
intimate  and  friendly  relation  with  the  great  national  reli¬ 
gious  and  philanthropic  organizations.  It  has  a  great  host  of 
friends  especially  those  who  are  aiding  the  work  or  being 
helped  by  it.  Further,  the  Society  is  stronger  today  than  for 
a  third  of  a  century  and  its  future  assured  and  exceedingly- 
promising. 

Because  of  these  considerations  it  was  decided  to  enter¬ 
tain  representatives  of  the  various  religious  organizations 
and  other  friends  of  the  Society  at  a  reception  and  banquet, 
and  that  the  Centennial  celebration  should  be  in  the  nature 
of  a  Jubilee  for  the  enjoyment  of  good  fellowship  and  without 
solicitation  of  funds. 

To  this  end  the  spacious  and  beautiful  ball-room  and  the 
adjoining  parlors  of  the  Hotel  Biltmore  were  secured  for  this 
occasion.  The  ball-room  was  tastefully  decorated  with  flowers, 
flags  and  bunting.  The  dinner  and  the  service  rendered  by 
the  hotel  were  in  keeping  with  the  reputation  of  this  famous 
hostelry.  The  Gloria  Trumpeters  rendered  delightful  and 
inspiring  musie  throughout  the  evening.  Mr.  William  Phillips 
Hall,  president  of  the  Society,  presided,  and  there  were  two 
hundred  and  fifty  guests  present.  The  addresses  w'ere  forceful 
and  eloquent. 

That  those  present  may  preserve  a  souvenir  of  the  cele¬ 
bration,  and  the  host  of  friends  unable  to  be  present  may 
enjoy  the  addresses  of  the  evening  though  absent,  the  follow¬ 
ing  report  has  been  prepared. 


BANQUET  HELD  AT  THE  HOTEL  BILTMORE,  MAY  18,  1925 


Centennial  Celebration 

AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 

MONDAY  EVENING 
May  18,  1925 

The  Centennial  Assembly  and  Banquet  of  the  American  Tract 
Society  came  to  order  at  7:15  o’clock,  Mr.  William  Phillips  Hall, 
President  of  the  Society,  presiding. 

DR.  DAVID  G.  WYLIE  INVOKED  GOD’S  BLESSING 
UPON  THE  ASSEMBLED  GUESTS 

President  Hall;  We  have  gathered  here  this  evening  to  cele¬ 
brate  the  one  hundredth  anniversary  of  the  American  Tract 
Society.  This  Society  was  organized  in  Vlay,  1825  “to  diffuse  a 
knowledge  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  as  the  Redeemer  of  sinners, 
and  to  promote  the  interest  of  vital  godliness  and  sound  morality 
by  the  circulation  of  religious  tracts  calculated  to  receive  the 
approbation  of  all  evangelical  Christians.” 

During  the  one  hundred  years  just  past,  the  Society  has  pub¬ 
lished  Christian  literature  in  one  hundred  and  seventy-eight 
different  languages  and  dialects.  It  has  distributed  leaflets,  tracts, 
pamphlets,  volumes  and  periodicals  through  its  various  agencies 
to  the  number  of  815,699,200. 

It  has  given  away  twm  and  three-quarter  millions  of  dollars’ 
worth  of  Christian  literature.  Over  five  and  one-half  billion  pages 
of  tracts  have  been  distributed  gratuitously  but  with  discrimina¬ 
tion. 


6 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


For  all  those  facts  we  praise  God  and  take  courage.  But 
there  are  a  number  of  things  of  immediate  interest  to  us  on  this 
occasion,  and,  in  speaking  of  them,  we  will  have  to  touch  on  the 
high  spots  only. 

Something  over  fifty  years  ago,  there  was  a  lady  who  gave  a 
special  fund  to  establish  an  income  from  which  we  could  purchase 
and  present  to  each  member  of  the  Graduating  Class  at  West 
Point  a  copy  of  the  Word  of  God  each  year,  and  for  over  fifty 
years  the  American  Tract  Society,  with  the  interest  derived  from 
that  money  and  other  funds,  has  presented  each  and  every  mem¬ 
ber  of  the  Graduating  Classes  at  West  Point  a  copy  of  the  Bible. 
We  have  not  been  partial,  for  we  inquire  of  the  Chaplain  as 
to  what  particular  version  the  cadet  desires  to  receive.  Some 
of  them  prefer  the  King  James’  or  Revised  Version;  the  Roman 
Catholics  prefer  the  Douay  Version,  and  we  give  them  what  they 
specify;  and  that  work  has  been  going  on  for  from  fifty-two  to 
fifty-three  years.  There  have  been  a  number  of  friends  who  have 
joined  with  the  original  donor.  We  have  one  with  us  here  this 
evening  w'ho  has  given  to  this  particular  cause. 

Now  of  late  the  Lord  has  moved  the  heart  of  one  of  His  hand¬ 
maidens  to  advise  us  that  she  has  decided  to  give  to  the  American 
Tract  Society,  for  the  glory  of  God  and  in  loving  memory  of  her 
father  and  mother,  an  amount  of  money  sufficient  to  present  each 
and  every  member  of  the  Graduating  Classes  with  a  copy  of  the 
Word  of  God  as  long  as  she  lives.  In  other  words,  at  least  $600 
a  year  and  maybe  more,  and  that  she  has  provided  in  her  will,  the 
sum  of  $12,000  more,  the  income  to  be  used  for  the  same  purpose  in 
perpetuity.  That  lady’s  name  is  Miss  Annie  Miller.  God  bless 
her!  (Applause)  I  can’t  conceive  of  any  more  truly  Christian  or 
patriotic  act  than  that,  and  I  hope  you  will  join  with  me  in  prais¬ 
ing  God  for  this  gift  which  He  has  gained  to  His  cause  and  His 
kingdom  for  those  young  men  who  graduate  from  the  United  States 
Military  Academy  at  West  Point. 

Let  me  also  add  this,  about  another  matter  that  may  be  spoken 
of  appropriately  in  this  connection.  You  all  recall  a  great  figure, 
on  the  pages  of  American  History — General  Ulysses  S.  Grant. 
You  remember  that  his  last  days  on  earth  were  spent  at  Mount 
McGregor,  where  his  life  ebbed  away,  while  he  bravely  dictated 
his  “Memoirs”  that  his  wife  and  those  dependent  on  him  might 
have  some  means  of  support  after  he  had  passed  hence.  I  may 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


7 


say  that  sometime  prior  to  his  last  illness,  General  Grant  had 
united  with  the  Metropolitan  Temple  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  here  in  New  York,  the  church  of  which  Dr.  Cadman,  who 
is  to  speak  here  tonight,  afterward  became  pastor. 

General  Grant  was  a  Christian  and  pre-eminently  a  man  of 
prayer,  apparently  very  few  people  know  that.  Some  years  ago 
I  met  a  young  man  whose  father  had  been  a  member  of  General 
Grant  s  staff  during  the  Civil  War,  and  he  said  his  father  had  told 
him  that  General  Grant  was  a  man  of  prayer;  that  in  the  midst  of 
great  battles  he  would  go  into  his  tent  and  plead  with  God  for 
wisdom  and  direction. 

Upon  telling  this  to  Col.  Franklin  P.  Sellers,  Religious  Editor 
of  the  Brooklyn  Daily  Eagle,”  he  said,  “That  is  true.  When 
General  Frederick  Grant  was  at  Governor’s  Island,  I  attended  a 
dinner  at  which  he  was  present  and  he  said,  ”My  father  was  a 
man  of  profound  faith  in  God  and  sought  heavenly  wisdom  and 
guidance  from  God  through  prayer.”  We  thank  God  for  all  that 
beautiful  story,  but  here  is  something  which  follows  that  has  to  do 
with  the  American  Tract  Society.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  just  after 
the  death  of  General  U.  S.  Grant,  our  Executive  Secretary,  Dr. 
Edwin  Noah  Hardy,  visited  the  house  at  Mount  McGregor  in 
which  the  great  General  spent  his  last  days  on  earth.  He  looked 
over  the  belongings  of  General  Grant  and  noticed  on  the  table 
where  he  used  to  sit  and  read,  a  black  book  like  this  I  hold  in  my 
hand,  called  Daily  Light  on  the  Daily  Path.”  He  opened  it  and  it 
opened  to  a  page  that  evidently  was  frequently  read  by  the  Gen¬ 
eral,  and  it  begins  as  follows: 

As  thy  days  so  shall  thy  strength  be.  And  he  said  unto  me, 
My  grace  is  sufficient  for  thee;  for  my  strength  is  made  perfect 
in  weakness.  Most  gladly  therefore  will  I  rather  glory  in  my 
infirmities,  that  the  jjower  of  Christ  may  rest  upon  me.  There¬ 
fore  I  take  pleasure  in  infirmities,  in  reproaches,  in  necessities,  in 
persecution,  in  distresses  for  Christ’s  sake,  for  wdien  I  am  weak, 
then  I  am  strong.  I  can  do  all  things  through  Christ  wdio  strength- 
eneth  me!” 

Those  are  the  words  our  great  General  spiritually  fed  upon 
from  the  Word  of  God  through  a  book  published  by  the  American 
Tract  Society.  We  thank  God  we  w'ere  able  to  contribute  that 
to  his  comfort  and  cheer.  (Applause) 


8 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


I  might  speak  of  other  things  but  time  fails.  The  floor  belongs 
to  Mr.  Bryan.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure,  not  to  introduce  Mr. 
Bryan,  for  he  needs  no  introduction.  Every  true  Christian  man 
and  woman  loves  William  Jennings  Bryan  for  his  devotion  to  our 
Blessed  Lord.  (Applause)  I  delight  in  his  deep  spiritual  interest 
and  devotion  to  the  cause  of  the  King  and  His  Kingdom.  I  first 
met  him  at  the  International  Convention  of  Christian  Endeavor 
in  St.  Paul  in  1909.  I  had  charge  of  the  Evangelistic  Meetings  of 
that  Convention.  Mr.  Bryan  was  our  speaker  the  first  day,  and 
on  that  occasion  I  met  him  for  the  first  time.  He  said  to  me, 
“What  shall  I  speak  upon?”  I  said,  “Something  evangelistic.” 
He  spoke  on  the  theme  “Why  be  a  Christian?”  an  address  that  has 
since  immortalized  itself.  That  is  one  thing  I  hope  the  American 
Tract  Society,  with  Mr.  Bryan’s  approval,  will  after  a  time  put  in 
tract  form  and  distribute  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
the  land.  I  distinctly  remember  that  service.  I  remember  how 
Mr.  Bryan  pleaded  with  that  audience,  and  then  how  at  the  end 
of  the  address,  about  one  hundred  men  and  women  surrendered 
to  the  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords,  and  that  was  the  result  of 
the  message  from  the  heart  and  lips  of  our  beloved  brother. 

I  know  you  will  be  pleased  to  listen  to  him.  (Applause) 

ADDRESS  OF  HON.  WILLIAM  JENNINGS  BRYAN 

Mr.  Chairman,  ladies  and  gentlemen:  I  have  had  many  sur¬ 
prises  in  my  life,  but  I  think  that  this  was  about  as  complete  a 
surprise  as  I  have  ever  had.  I  had  promised  to  come  down  to 
speak  tonight  at  Carnegie  Hall  at  the  invitation  of  Brother  Pat¬ 
terson,  and  then  I  promised  to  go  over  to  Brooklyn  and  speak  at 
noon  on  the  invitation  of  Brother  Carter,  and  then  I  received  an 
invitation  to  come  to  dinner  here,  and  I  just  supposed  that  a  few 
of  the  men  were  going  to  meet  and  we  would  have  just  a  nice  little 
time  before  going  to  the  hall.  You  can  imagine  my  surprise  when 
Brother  Patterson  came  dressed  in  his  tuxedo,  and  I  was  just 
ready  to  go  over  dressed  as  I  was  to  speak  tonight.  I  want  you  to 
know  I  have  a  tuxedo.  (Laughter)  That  is  a  good  deal  more 
important  than  wearing  one.  I  find  if  people  know  you  have  one 
you  don’t  have  to  wear  it.  It  is  not  having  one  that  hurts.  I 
would  have  had  mine  on  if  I  had  known  you  were  going  to  come 
dressed  in  tuxedos,  for  I  don’t  like  to  speak  in  tuxedos  unless  it  is 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


9 


somewhere  where  everybody  wears  them,  and  I  just  supposed  this 
was  an  evangelistic  meeting,  and  I  was  afraid  I  couldn  t  evange¬ 
lize  with  a  tuxedo  on.  (Laughter)  But  it  is  pleasant  to  find  the 
men  and  the  women  too,  only  it  makes  me  lonesome  to  be  at  a 
dinner  where  there  are  women  for  I  like  to  have  my  wife  with  me 
where  there  are  women  and  my  family  is  better  represented  when 
both  halves  are  present  than  when  there  is  just  one. 

The  American  Tract  Society  is  one  of  a  great  number  of  things 
I  am  interested  in.  I  find  my  interests  are  growing  and  anything 
that  is  connected  with  the  welfare  of  society  can  count  me  in  on  it, 
and  religion  is  the  greatest  thing  that  is  connected  with  the  welfare 
of  society.  I  am  spending  an  increasing  amount  of  time  talking 
on  religious  subjects  and  I  am  doing  it  for  two  reasons.  In  the 
first  place,  it  is  the  greatest  subject  that  there  is,  and  I  want  to 
end  my  life  with  the  biggest  theme;  I  don’t  want  to  run  down  and 
have  a  sort  of  an  anti-climax  at  the  end  of  my  life,  and  if  I  did  not 
believe  that  religion  was  the  greatest  thing  in  the  world  I  would 
not  spend  so  much  time  on  it.  The  other  is  that  if  you  talk  on 
religious  subjects  and  can  only  reach  one  person,  you  haven’t 
talked  in  vain.  I  began  in  politics  and  I  found  no  matter  how  good 
your  proposition  was,  unless  you  get  a  majority  to  agree  with  you 
you  couldn’t  carry  it  out.  It  is  astonishing  how  hard  it  is  to  get  a 
majority  to  agree  with  you.  (Laughter)  But  when  you  talk  on  a 
religious  theme,  if  you  can  only  help  one  single  person,  it  is  time 
well  spent.  In  the  distribution  of  tracts,  think  of  the  number  of 
tracts  which  have  been  distributed  by  this  Society.  Think  of  the 
number  of  hearts  to  which  you  have  gained  admittance  with 
religious  association,  and  then  think  what  it  is  to  convert  one 
single  human  being. 

We  will  not  know  until  we  get  on  the  other  side  what  this 
Society  has  done,  for  it  cannot  collect  statistics.  The  work  that  it 
has  done  in  this  way  is  so  difficult  to  follow  up.  But  I  remember 
hearing  a  man  speaking  for  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  and  heard  him  say, 
“If  all  the  money  expended  on  buildings  and  running  expenses  has 
resulted  in  saving  but  one  young  man,  it  would  be  money  well 
spent,”  and  when  he  was  through  a  man  came  up  who  was  rather 
of  an  economical  turn  of  mind,  and  said,  “Don’t  you  think  that  is 
an  extravagant  statement  to  say  that  the  saving  of  one  boy  would 
be  worth  that  much  money.^”  The  man  said,  “No,  not  if  it  were 
my  boy.” 


10 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


All  we  have  to  do  is  to  apply  that  to  some  one  who  is  dear  to  us, 
and  then  we  know  that  one  human  soul  outweighs  in  value  all  the 
money  that  it  ever  cost  to  reach  a  soul.  For  man  is  just  a  link  in  a 
chain  that  is  almost  endless,  and  when  you  save  one  soul,  that 
soul’s  influence  goes  out  to  the  next  generation,  and  we  can’t 
tell  how  far  the  influence  extends  or  how  many  come  under  its 
spell.  I  think  we  over-estimate  what  the  mind  can  do  and  under¬ 
estimate  the  achievements  of  the  heart. 

Take  the  telegraph  system.  It  is  a  wonderful  thing  and  we 
can  hardly  express  our  feeling  of  wonder  when  we  think  that  one 
can  stand  by  the  side  of  a  telegraph  instrument  and  by  means  of 
the  electric  current  speak  to  people  ten  thousand  miles  away.  It 
seems  almost  impossible,  and  yet  we  know  it  is  true. 

But  the  achievements  of  the  heart  are  more  wonderful  still 
for  one  who  can  put  into  operation  a  great  movement  for  the 
benefit  of  the  race,  or  becomes  a  partner  in  an  organization  that 
does  set  on  foot  any  great  movement  that  goes  on  in  increasing 
influence,  his  heart  will  talk  to  hearts  that  will  beat  ten  thousand 
years  after  all  our  hearts  are  still,  and  that  is  more  wonderful. 
When  we  think  what  it  means  to  an  individual  to  have  his  life 
changed  and  what  it  means  to  a  society  to  have  its  life  changed,  we 
can’t  estimate  what  this  Tract  Society  has  done. 

I  remember  reading  in  the  Review  of  Reviews  a  few  years  ago 
of  something  of  a  great  revival  that  took  place  in  Wales,  and  it  was 
said  to  have  commenced  in  a  little  prayer  meeting.  In  that 
prayer  meeting  a  little  girl  arose  and  when  there  had  been  some 
hesitation  about  speaking,  she  said,  “If  no  one  else  will  speak,  I 
want  to  say  I  love  the  Lord  Jesus  with  all  my  heart,’’  and  there  was 
something  in  her  trembling  voice  that  touched  the  hearts  of  those 
about  her  and  they  arose  to  speak,  and  from  that  prayer  meeting 
there  did  go  out  this  influence  that  spread  over  Wales  and  changed 
the  lives  of  tens  of  thousands,  and  changed  the  conduct  of  com¬ 
munities.  If  a  little  girl  with  a  trembling  voice  can  start  a  revival 
that  will  bring  to  the  foot  of  the  cross  thousands  of  people  and 
through  those  thousands  go  on  through  all  the  countless  ages  yet 
to  come  with  that  influence  undiminished,  aye  even  increased — 
if  that  can  be  done  by  a  little  girl  in  a  little  timid  speech,  then 
how  will  you  estimate  the  mighty  influence  that  has  been  set  on 
foot  by  this  Tract  Society  in  one  hundred  years  Who  will  meas- 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


11 


ure  what  its  influence  has  been  in  shaping  the  destiny  of  our 
nation  and  its  influence  abroad  affecting  the  destiny  of  the  world? 

In  traveling  around  the  world  Mrs.  Bryan  and  I  decided  to 
visit  a  missionary  station.  I  mention  it  to  show  how  little  you 
know  when  you  start  out  what  you  are  going  to  do.  We  thought 
we  would  like  to  see  a  missionary  station  at  work.  On  the  way 
across  the  ocean  there  were  thirty-two  missionaries  on  the  boat 
and  they  all  invited  us  to  stop  at  the  missionary  stations  and  we 
spent  our  time  in  Asia  going  from  one  station  to  another,  and 
when  we  got  there  we  had  become  acquainted  with  missionary 
stations  everywhere,  and  this  was  the  thought  that  came  to  us: 
that  although  our  trumpet  isn’t  heard  around  the  world,  it  is  true 
that  before  the  sun  goes  down  on  one  center  of  religious  influence 
established  by  American  money,  it  rises  upon  another,  and  the 
influence  of  the  Christian  people  of  the  United  States  is  felt  around 
the  world.  (Applause)  And  when  the  world  is  redeemed  as  it  one 
day  will  be  by  these  widening  circles  until  they  meet,  our  nation 
is  going  to  have  a  large  share  of  the  credit,  and  no  one  can  tell 
how  many  of  the  missionaries  who  have  gone  out  to  carry  the 
gospel  to  those  who  sit  in  darkness  have  had  their  first  thoughts 
awakened  and  their  first  ambitions  stirred  by  literature  that  has 
been  put  into  their  hands  by  this  great  Society. 

I  am  glad  to  be  here  tonight  to  share  in  the  rejoicing  that  we 
ought  to  crown  such  an  anniversary  with,  and  I  join  in  the  prayers 
of  these  good  people  that  its  success  in  the  next  one  hundred  years 
will  be  much  greater  than  in  the  last  one  hundred,  and  that  a 
thousand  years  from  now  it  will  be  in  the  very  vigorous  prime  of 
its  life,  still  carrying  the  gospel  all  over  the  world  and  to  every¬ 
body,  and  helping  to  fulfill  the  promise  that  was  given  us  after 
Christ  arose  from  the  dead  and  just  before  he  ascended  when  He 
commanded  that  we  should  make  disciples  of  all  people  every¬ 
where,  and  promised  he  would  be  with  us  even  until  the  end  of  the 
world. 

He  has  been  with  this  Tract  Society,  and  I  have  no  doubt  His 
blessing  will  rest  upon  it  in  the  splendid  work  it  is  doing  and  will  do. 

I  thank  you  for  the  opportunity  to  be  with  you.  (Applause) 

.  .  .  “Faith  of  our  Fathers”  was  sung  at  this  point  .  .  . 


12 


CENTENNIAI.  CELEBRATION 


President  Hall:  Mr.  Bryan’s  address  brings  to  mind  the 
fact  that  from  the  day  of  the  martyred  McKinley,  down  through 
the  days  of  the  activity  of  Theodore  Roosevelt  and  Woodrow  Wil¬ 
son,  all  were  Honorary  Vice-Presidents,  as  is  also  Mr.  Bryan,  of 
the  American  Tract  Society — in  fact,  for  a  number  of  years  past, 
with  but  two  exceptions,  all  of  the  Presidents  of  the  United  States 
have  sustained  that  relationship  to  the  Society .  I  am  happy  that 
Mr.  Bryan  could  be  with  us  here  this  evening  and  give  us  this  truly 
Christian  and  splendid  address  on  the  vital  interests  of  the  King¬ 
dom  of  our  Saviour,  and  speak  as  he  has  spoken  so  graciously  and 
praiseworthily  of  the  Tract  Society.  We  all  love  him  as  a  brother 
in  Christ  and  may  God  bless  him  for  his  address  here  tonight  and 
the  spirit  he  has  shown,  the  spirit  of  our  Lord  and  Master,  which 
I  thank  God  may  be  reckoned  ours  also.  (Apiilause) 

(“America”  was  sung  at  this  point.) 

President  Hall:  Among  the  sweetest  memories  of  past  days 
is  the  memory  of  a  friendship  that  was  very  dear  to  your  presiding 
officer  here  tonight,  and  equally  dear,  I  believe,  to  the  man  who  is 
to  follow  and  address  us.  That  is  the  memory  of  Dwight  L. 
Moody,  that  great  man  of  God,  who  although  but  a  humble  lay¬ 
man  arose  under  God  through  the  sheer  force  of  his  great  and 
extraordinary  character  and  ability,  to  an  amazing  eminence  in 
the  field  of  religious  leadership.  I  have  wondered  whether,  when 
the  roll  is  taken  up  there  of  those  who  led  multitudes  to  accept 
our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Lord  and  Saviour,  the 
same  Dwight  L.  Moody  or  Charles  H.  Spurgeon  would  stand  fore¬ 
most.  They  were  great  laymen,  for  neither  was  an  ordained 
clergyman.  But  Moody’s  ministry  was  marvelous,  magnetic, 
with  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ.  Moody’s  heart  was  great  and 
noble  and  true  to  his  Lord  and  Master  and  to  His  cause.  Moody 
loved  men  even  though  they  differed  with  him,  and  he  always 
recognized  true  brethren  in  Christ  and  loved  them. 

In  the  early  days  of  his  ministry  I  loved  him  for  what  he  was 
and  did  for  Christ.  In  the  later  days  of  that  ministry,  I  knew  much 
of  him  and  at  last  he  and  I  became  intimate  friends.  In  1899  I  was 
conducting  an  evangelistic  mission  in  New  York  with  Robert 
Stuart  MacArthur,  now  in  heaven.  When  I  was  permitted  to 
organize  the  tent  movement,  which  has  since  spread  throughout 
the  country,  we  wrote  Mr.  Moody  and  told  him  that  we  were  going 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


13 


to  inaugurate  and  carry  on  the  movement  in  a  tent  at  the  corner 
of  Broadway  and  57th  Street,  and  we  were  anxious  to  have  him 
with  us.  He  wrote  back,  “I  will  help  you”  and  he  came  down  and 
made  good  his  word. 

One  evening  while  talking  together,  he  mentioned  my  dear 
friend  at  my  right.  Doctor  Cadman.  He  said  in  part,  “Hall,  I 
want  you  to  love  him  as  I  do.  I  see  a  great  future  for  him.  I 
believe  he  is  going  to  rise  to  great  eminence  in  the  Kingdom  and 
work  of  Christ,  and  I  want  you  to  always  pray  for  him.”  I  have 
been  praying  for  Samuel  Parkes  Cadman  ever  since.  God  bless  him. 

We  are  proud  to  have  him  wdth  us  tonight.  He  is  the  President 
of  the  Federal  Council  of  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  most 
worthily  elected  to  that  high  office,  and  w^e  shall  be  delighted  to 
hear  the  message  he  has  to  give. 

We’ also  have  with  us  Dr.  Frank  Mason  North,  that  man  of 
God  who  has  immortalized  himself  not  only  in  his  missionary  work 
and  written  articles,  but  in  that  hymn  “Where  Cross  the  Crowded 
Ways  of  Life”  that  we  all  delight  to  sing,  and  that  is  filled  with 
the  spirit  not  only  of  true  poetry,  but  of  our  blessed  Master  as 
well.  God  bless  Dr.  North!  It  is  a  rare  occasion  and  company 
we  have  here  tonight  to  celebrate  the  one  hundredth  birthday  of 
our  Society. 

Here  is  Dr.  Cadman,  a  son  of  a  Wesleyan  Methodist.  I  have 
been  a  Methodist  for  forty-four  years  myself,  although  born  in  the 
Presbyterian  fold  and  raised  on  the  old  Westminster  Confession 
and  catechism,  and  I  have  never  gotten  away  from  it,  but  I  have 
been  a  Methodist  for  forty-four  years,  and  it  was  as  a  Methodist 
I  first  met  him.  We  wdio  are  Methodists,  we  wdio  are  Dutch 
Reformed,  we  who  are  Baptists,  w^e  who  are  Lutherans,  we  who 
are  Congregationalists,  and  w^e  who  are  members  of  every  branch 
of  the  Evangelical  Church,  are  one  in  spirit  and  in  the  work  of  the 
American  Tract  Society. 

We  meet  here  tonight  to  hear  a  message  from  a  man  who  to  a 
jjre-eminent  degree  represents  the  spirit  of  Christian  unity  and 
stands  for  a  United  Church  of  Christ,  and  I  pray  God  the  time 
may  come  when  in  the  full  sense  of  our  Saviour’s  last  recorded 
prayer  and  in  answer  to  it,  all  of  God’s  people  may  be  truly  one, 
visibly  as  well  as  invisibly,  in  Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord. 

Dr.  Cadman! 

(The  company  arose  and  applauded.) 


14 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


ADDRESS  OF  REV.  S.  PARKES  CADMAN,  D.D., 

My  dear  Mr.  Hall  and  Mrs.  Hall,  Fellow  Guests  and  Brethren: 
I  am  somewhat  embarrassed  by  the  characteristic  generosity  of 
this  introduction  by  my  old  comrade  of  many  years,  Mr.  Hall. 
I  was  wishing  while  giving  it  that  Mrs.  Cadman  could  have  been 
here  to  know  what  a  prize  she  secured  in  the  matrimonial  basket. 
(Laughter)  My  honored  predecessor  in  the  uncrowned  pontificate 
of  the  Protestant  churches.  Dr.  North,  will  bear  me  out  when  I 
say  that  any  man  who  inherits  the  honors  which  he  enjoyed  and 
deserved  long  before  me  need  not  be  reminded  he  must  bear  them 
modestly.  (Laughter)  There  are  those  around  me  who  should  be 
kept  in  a  due  state  of  discipline.  I  rather  enjoy  a  supremacy 
which  has  not  the  responsibility  of  office,  and  an  infallibility 
which  never  has  to  be  exercised. 

It  gives  me  very  great  pleasure  to  be  here  in  response  to  the 
courteous  and  welcome  invitation  of  President  Hall  to  congratu¬ 
late  this  honored  Society  on  its  Centennial  Anniversary.  There 
are  certain  spots  where  we  leave  the  theological  razors  at  the 
door.  I  think  that  could  be  practiced  to  great  advantage  to  the 
Kingdom  of  God.  I  should  not  think  it  even  timely  or  in  any 
way  beseeming  to  discuss  anything  here  which  is  of  a  debatable 
character.  Indeed,  I  am  the  most  orthodox  person  in  this  room, 
for  I  come  from  direct  Evangelical  heritage  through  Wesley 
himself,  and  was  born  in  the  parish  in  which  John  Fletcher,  of 
holy  memory,  was  the  minister.  My  grandmother  told  me  her 
mother  entertained  him  at  tea  when  tea  was  very  much  dearer 
than  it  is  now.  (Laughter)  And  I  am  still  a  member  of  the  church 
which  I  joined  as  a  boy  at  fifteen  years  of  age.  I  get  my  class 
tickets  every  Quarter,  with  a  hint  that  the  money  for  them  is  due; 
and  I  always  send  the  money,  Mr.  President.  (Laughter)  If  you 
want  to  see  a  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees,  look  at  me.  If  you  are  an 
orthodox  person,  I  do  not  think  you  will  have  to  direct  your  gaze 
even  to  some  of  these  astounding  specimens  seated  around  me  this 
evening. 

It  has  been  said  by  our  President  with  overflowing  grace  and 
meaning  unction,  that  we  are  one  in  the  life  of  our  Blessed  Lord. 
After  all,  one  is  reminded,  is  he  not,  as  he  hears  of  these  mighty 
champions  of  the  church  to  whom  Mr.  Hall  has  referred,  that  the 
center  of  Faith  has  never  been  a  creed  or  a  book,  but  a  Person 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


15 


and  a  Life.  Nor  could  we  do  a  safer  or  better  thing  in  this  day  of 
tumultuous  excitement  than  gather  here  in  a  serene  atmosphere 
of  things  concerning  which  we  all  agree  because  we  have  received 
them  with  the  verification  of  a  personal  experience.  Our  contact 
with  the  Divine  Master  is  so  real,  so  daily  and  so  vital  that  it  is  the 
secret  of  our  strength  and  our  fellowship.  If  we  are  to  hope  for 
a  growing,  healthy,  progressive  federation  of  our  various  Protestant 
churches,  it  will  not  come,  as  you  know,  through  edicts  issued  from 
authorities.  It  will  only  come  as  the  common  life  of  our  one  Lord 
brings  us  together. 

The  Tract  Society  has  perhaps  the  most  honorable  ge neology 
of  any  Society  that  could  be  celebrated.  For  in  some  respects  it 
is  the  prototype  of  the  Bible.  And  this  is  the  year,  Mr.  President, 
when  we  celebrate  the  memory  of  one  greater  even  than  Spurgeon 
or  Moody,  to  whom  reference  has  been  made.  The  glorious  Wil¬ 
liam  Tyndale  is  also  commemorated;  he  died  on  the  soil  of  the 
Lowlands  the  death  of  a  martyr,  witnessing  for  that  Bible  which 
has  been  the  fountain  of  our  illumination  and  strength  both  in 
Church  and  State,  since  it  was  made  free  to  all  the  people  in  their 
own  tongues.  Tyndale  not  only  translated  the  Scriptures,  follow¬ 
ing  Wycliff,  and  doing  the  work  more  completely  and  single- 
handed;  he  not  only  sacrificed  with  gladness  his  life  to  crown  his 
work;  he  also  imparted  to  the  English  Bible  we  revere,  that  pe¬ 
culiar  majesty  of  style  which  no  modern  rendition  has  been  able 
to  approach  within  a  million  leagues.  If  you  find  in  the  version  of 
1611  Jacobean  prose  at  its  height,  without  any  grandiloquence 
or  weakness,  you  can  trace  that  prose  to  the  influence  of  William 
Tyndale.  He  said  he  would  make  the  Bible  as  familiar  and 
beloved  to  the  plowman  in  the  field  and  to  the  cottager  in  his  hut 
and  to  the  child  coming  fresh  from  his  play  as  it  was  to  the  princes 
of  his  day.  In  fact,  the  Bible  may  be  considered  as  a  bundle  of 
tracts  which  Tyndale  rendered  into  incomparable  English.  And 
the  first  great  Tract  Society  was  that  which  issued  these  Scrip¬ 
tures  from  time  to  time. 

In  following  up  with  your  own  Tract  Society,  also  Great 
Britain  s,  and  those  of  other  nations,  you  have  m  a  real  sense 
imitated  the  worthy  example  of  those  who  first  circulated  the 
Holy  Scriptures.  From  beginning  to  ending,  apart  from  any 
theological  prejudice,  the  Books  of  the  Bible  are  independent 
documents;  glorious  pamphlets  ablaze  with  divine  light  and 


16 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


power.  Genesis,  the  Book  of  beginnings;  Exodus  with  its  story 
of  the  crossing  of  the  Red  Sea;  Leviticus,  and  its  liturgies;  Numbers 
with  its  statistics;  Deuteronomy  and  its  accounts  of  wanderings 
in  the  wilderness  or  of  the  giving  of  the  Law;  Joshua,  whose 
monumental  sword  conquered  Palestine;  Judges,  the  iron  age  of 
Israel;  Ruth,  with  its  exquisite  love  story;  Samuel,  Kings,  with 
the  tragedy  of  Saul;  the  triumph  of  David,  afterwards  dimmed  by 
fleshly  lust,  and  then  cleansed  by  a  penitence  that  better  became 
him  than  his  deeds  of  war,  are  tracts  that  have  revolutionized 
civilization  and  can  do  so  again.  Then  that  Confessional  we  call 
the  Psalter,  followed  by  the  literature  of  Hebrew  wisdom,  not 
without  its  potency  today;  and  after  these,  the  Prophets,  an 
immortal  chorus;  the  dusky  splendor  of  Ezekiel’s  vision;  Jeremiah, 
the  oratorio  of  hope  in  desolation;  the  sturdy  manhood  of  Daniel; 
the  theophanies  of  Isaiah;  the  four  great  Gospels,  each  being  one 
view,  incomplete  because  the  life  they  portrayed  could  never  be 
encompassed  by  a  thousand  Gospels ;  and  after  these  the  Epistles ! 
Was  it  not  wise  you  should  follow  such  an  illustrious  model 
Where  is  there  such  a  literature  as  this?  Whether  it  be  viewed 
from  the  literary,  the  moral,  or  the  spiritual  side,  it  is  unsurpassed 
and  incomparable.  To  be  able  to  say  that  we  have  trod  in  the  path 
of  this  selection  of  tracts  is  to  place  our  Society  upon  a  very  lasting 
foundation. 

f 

Moreover,  as  you  know,  there  are  in. the  lives  of  men  today 
many  things  with  which  this  Tract  Society  finds  correspondence. 
After  all,  we  must,  as  Mr.  Hall  knows  from  his  experience  as  an 
evangelist  and  a  business  m&n  who  has  tried  to  make  religion  a  part 
of  his  daily  practice,  connect  our  beliefs  with  environment.  In 
fact,  if  I  may  name  Spencer  here,  he  said  that  life  was  correspond¬ 
ence  with  environment,  and  that  when  we  cease  to  correspond  with 
our  environment,  we  cease  to  live.  That  explains  some  churches 
you  and  I  know.  They  fail  to  correspond  with  environment. 

My  first  memory  of  life  is  that  of  my  father,  a  Methodist  lay 
preacher,  taking  a  bundle  of  tracts  from  door  to  door,  passing  in 
one  and  receiving  the  one  left  the  week  before,  and  thus  by  change 
making  them  do  all-day  work.  Those  tracts  were  read  when  the 
minds  of  the  people  were  unoccupied  by  any  other  learning.  I 
rather  think  that  today’s  unlimited  printing  has  its  sinister  side. 
After  you  have  been  flooded  with  the  yellow  journals  and  similar 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


17 


products  in  the  magazines  and  fugitive  literature  of  our  day,  what 
room  is  there  for  the  great  truths  the  Tract  Society  sets  forth 
and  which  the  Bible  still  more  majestically  proclaims? 

When  the  Bible  first  came  into  the  lives  of  our  fathers,  it  was 
hailed  just  as  keenly  as  any  new  planet  swimming  in  the  sky  by  an 
astronomer.  There  was  no  rival  literature,  no  poetry  save 
Chaucer’s,  no  fiction,  no  philosophy  except  in  a  few  scattered 
translations.  So  the  Supreme  Book  came  to  them,  and  the  music 
of  its  noble  English  left  emotion  in  the  heart  and  stamped  itself 
upon  the  memory.  It  came  to  minds  which  were  hungry  for 
truth  because  they  had  not  received  any  spiritual  food.  Its  great 
verities  came  with  thrilling  force  because  the  people  were  not 
satiated  and  incapable  of  appreciation,  nor  saturated  in  the  vulgar 
things  which  destroy  reverence  and  paralyze  many  of  the  greater 
functions  of  the  soul.  That  was  why,  when  a  Reader  stood  in  old 
St.  Paul’s  Cathedral  in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII,  fifteen  years  after 
Henry  had  burned  every  Bible  he  could  put  his  hand  on,  that 
official  read  the  Bible  in  the  hearing  of  the  English  people  for  five 
hours  in  the  crowMed  church.  After  he  sat  down,  exhausted, 
w’omen  threw  their  confections  in  the  pulpit  and  implored  him  to 
go  on.  “It  shall  come  to  pass  in  that  day  that  I  wall  send  a  famine 
on  the  people,’’  said  the  Lord.  I  sometimes  think  if  w^e  were  not  so 
busy  with  useless  and  superfluous  matter,  what  St.  Paul  calls 
“Saving  truths”  would  have  a  larger  and  more  effective  oppor¬ 
tunity. 

I  am  confirmed  in  this  opinion  by  the  conclusion  of  a  great 
thinker  wdio  stated  that  one-half  men  know^  is  entirely  useless, 
and  could  be  discarded  tomorrow  to  the  benefit  of  everybody 
concerned.  When  we  think  of  the  little  w^e  know,  that  sounds  like 
a  rash  statement ;  yet  is  there  not  truth  in  it?  How  is  it,  I  ask  in  all 
seriousness,  that  today,  when  we  have  separated  ourselves  as  a 
nation  from  the  public  teaching  of  the  Bible  in  our  system  of 
public  education  because  of  our  religious  differences — thus  robbing 
our  children  of  their  sacred  heritage — that  we  are  incapable  of 
breeding  adequate  leadership  for  State  or  Church? 

We  sometimes  speak  of  the  period  when  the  Tract  Society 
first  came  into  existence  as  being  in  most  respects  a  despicable  one. 
The  historian  seldom  mentions  it  without  rebuke.  As  a  century, 
it  was  disreputable  and  sordid.  Yet  it  produced  men  and  wmmen 


18 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


whose  like  we  cannot  produce.  Out  of  the  Serbonian  bog  there 
grew  up  some  very  stately  cedars  in  God’s  garden.  One  might  as 
well  look  for  orchids  around  the  North  Pole  as  expect  to  find  such 
great  men  and  women  in  the  Eighteenth  Century.  Nevertheless, 
Wesley  was  a  capable  man,  the  noblest  Protestant  who  has  ever 
lived,  said  a  great  German.  And  when  a  German  says  that  about 
an  Englishman,  it  deserves  consideration.  Augustine  Birrell  said 
Wesley  lived  nearer  to  the  heart  of  that  century,  which  included 
Washington  and  Pitt,  than  any  other  man.  It  also  gave  us  Samuel 
Johnson,  James  Madison,  John  Marshall,  Alexander  Hamilton, 
and  Edmund  Burke.  Where  are  their  equals  now.^  There  shall 
be  that  which  increaseth  knowledge  but  addeth  nothing  to  wisdom. 
There  shall  be  men  in  whose  right  hand  the  truth  shall  be,  and 
they  will  not  know  it.  It  might  be  well,  in  all  this  modern  rushing 
to  and  fro,  seeking  some  new  thing  to  discover,  to  anchor  upon 
those  great  and  fundamental  things  for  which  your  Society  lives, 
must  live,  and  shall  have  increasing  power  in  the  years  to  come. 
(Applause) 

When  everything  is  said  and  done,  there  is  a  certain  crying 
need  for  the  work  of  this  Society,  couched  upon  the  finest  possible 
lines,  because  we  are  not  gaining,  as  it  seems  to  me,  in  the  depth 
and  significance  of  religious  life.  We  criticize  our  Roman  Cath¬ 
olic  brethren;  it  would  be  well  for  us  to  study  the  Thirteenth  Cen¬ 
tury  and  see  how  they  got  results.  About  thirty  years  ago  a 
simple  Erench  girl  was  born  in  a  peasant  community,  and  today 
she  has  three  million  devotees  because  of  her  practice  of  the 
religious  life.  She  left  a  few  tracts,  which  are  now  circulated 
throughout  France  and  thirty  other  countries.  She  was  unlettered, 
but  she  was  filled  with  the  Spirit;  a  type  of  Christian  we  have  nearly 
lost  because  of  the  encroachments  of  rationalizing  processes  to 
which  we  surrender  province  after  province  of  mysticism  and 
inspiration.  In  that  same  spirit.  Dr.  North  wrote  his  great  hymn. 
All  great  hymns  have  been  written  and  all  great  visions  have 
triumphed  in  it.  The  imagination,  in  its  creative  functions,  moved 
upon  by  the  Spirit  of  God — that  is  real  religion.  It  creates  its 
own  theology,  as  it  did  in  St.  Paul,  in  St.  Augustine,  in  Luther,  in 
Calvin,  and  in  Wesley;  and  it  must  do  so  again,  for  no  generation 
can  create  a  living  theology  for  the  next  generation.  It  has  to 
come  out  of  the  beatines  of  one’s  own  heart  blood  and  felt 
experiences. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


19 


Nothing  is  so  difficult  as  a  tract.  Nobody  lias  been  able  to  re¬ 
produce  the  Bible  in  any  part.  Many  are  able  to  amend  and  criti¬ 
cize  and  conjecture  about  it,  but  they  are  not  able  to  add  anything 
to  it.  With  all  our  splendid  epochs  of  literature  since  the  last  of 
these  Semitics  wrote,  no  one  has  entered  their  class,  a  statement 
which  I  think  will  be  generally  admitted.  If  you  want  to  know 
what  it  costs  to  write  a  successful  tract,  try  to  do  it.  I  confess  I 
cannot.  I  may  do  the  “bow-wow”  style,  but  when  it  comes  to 
writing  a  tract,  I  am  helpless,  and  there  are  others  in  the  same 
condition  whom  I  shall  not  name.  It  is  hard  to  compress  much  in 
little,  as  Lord  Oxford  does.  To  say  “multum  in  parvo” — much  in 
little — to  utter  the  all-conquering  word  that  never  jumps  the 
track,  and  goes  from  start  to  finish  direct  as  a  trusty  blade,  is  a 
notable  achievement.  We  know  men  who  write  orations.  The  less 
some  know,  the  better  orators  they  are.  But  when  it  comes  to  cold 
print,  to  put  behind  the  arguments  the  pulsating  emotions  that 
get  results  is  the  art  of  writing.  We  shall  be  glad  if  those  who  can 
achieve  this  will  volunteer  their  services  for  the  next  tract. 

Again,  there  are  the  limitations  of  language.  I  was  glad  to  note 
in  the  report  of  your  work  for  the  last  one  hundred  years  that 
recently  we  have  included  the  Spanish  language — a  Spanish 
periodical  and  several  books.  I  do  not  know  Spanish,  so  I  speak 
with  the  enthusiasm  of  ignorance;  but  I  know  enough  to  know  that 
it  is  a  language  capable  of  height  and  depth,  prolific  of  beautiful 
words,  the  stateliest  of  all  the  Latin  languages,  although  little 
known  to  us.  I  am  happy  to  learn  we  have  gone  out  into  these 
linguistic  fields  on  all  sides. 

I  have  said  enough  to  show  you  I  am  one  with  you  in  this  vital 
business,  and  I  shall  do  anything  I  can  to  aid  the  Society.  You 
are  no  longer  young  in  the  matter  of  mere  time,  or  as  we  count 
years  in  this  dear  land  of  ours.  Yet  the  American  Tract  Society 
renews  its  youth.  May  it  go  on,  and  widen  out,  and  gather  to 
itself  all  beneficial  contributions,  applying  the  wisdom  of  God  in 
its  interpretation  of  His  boundless  grace  in  Jesus  Christ  toward  all 
men.  We  should  have  tracts  that  present  the  philosophic  side  of 
Christianity.  We  ought  to  have  tracts  which  enlarge  upon  the  strik¬ 
ing  phases  of  the  Christian  Church  before  her  division  in  the 
Sixteenth  Century,  showing  to  our  people,  what  few  realize,  that  all 
the  preceding  company  of  Saints  and  Prophets  and  Schoolmen  belong 


20 


CENTENNIAI.  CELEBRATION 


tons  as  Protestants.  We  have  a  common  heritage  in  the  movements 
of  Christianity  which  redeemed  Europe  from  barbarism  and  built 
her  cathedrals  and  universities.  Let  us  get  behind  the  next  move¬ 
ment.  The  Thirteenth  Century  believed  that  as  God  is  the  Father 
of  men,  so  is  the  church  their  Mother.  There  will  be  no  salvation 
in  any  political  system  until  the  Church  is  honored  by  people,  and 
is  worthy  of  their  recognition  and  trust.  I  thank  you.  (Applause) 

“The  Church’s  One  Foundation”  was  sung  at  this  point. 

President  Hall:  I  am  sure  I  voice  the  thought  and  feeling 
of  every  person  in  this  room  when  I  say  we  thank  God  for  your 
presence.  Dr.  Cadman,  and  your  message. 

We  have  with  us  here  tonight  a  number  of  friends  who  have  for 
many  years  been  identified  with  the  work  of  the  American  Tract 
Society,  who  have  been  interested  in  it,  who  have  self-sacrificingly 
cooperated  in  its  activities,  and  who  are  devotedly  engaged  in 
those  activities  today,  and  wFo  are  also  identified  with  other 
branches  of  Christian  life  and  service.  Among  those  present,  we 
have  the  honored  presence  of  the  President  of  the  American  Bible 
Society,  my  dear  friend  and  your  dear  friend,  E.  Francis  Hyde. 
I  am  going  to  ask  Mr.  Hyde  if  he  will  give  us  a  few  words  on  this 

occasion. 

ADDRESS  OF  MR.  E.  FRANCIS  HYDE 

President  Hall,  the  American  Bible  Society  is  very  happy  to 
greet  the  American  Tract  Society  on  this  occasion  of  its  celebra¬ 
tion  of  one  hundred  years  of  service.  Those  words,  “one  hundred 
years,”  sound  very  sonorous  to  me,  very  roaring  and  rounding. 
One  hundred  years !  Yet  they  don’t  quite  make  the  effect  on  me, 
those  wmrds,  as  the  effect  wdiich  President  Hall  made  on  me  wdien 
he  read  in  his  first  address,  the  account  of  what  the  American 
Tract  Society  had  done  in  those  one  hundred  years.  He  said  in 
his  first  remarks  that  from  1825  to  1925  the  American  Tract 
Society  had  sent  out  eight  hundred  and  fifteen  millions  of  tracts 
and  parts  of  scriptures  and  so  on,  to  the  world  which  needs  that 
kind  of  literature.  That  made  much  more  of  an  impression  on 
me  than  the  fact  that  it  was  one  hundred  years  that  the  Society 
had  been  doing  it. 

That  last  century  of  ours  is  a  great  century — that  century  which 
the  American  Tract  Society  has  lived— 1825  to  1925.  All  the  great 


AIMERICAN  TRAC  T  SOCIETY 


21 


things  of  spiritual  progress  seem  largely  to  have  eome  in  that  one 
hundred  years.  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gave  His  message  nineteen 
hundred  years  ago.  He  said,  “Go  into  the  world  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  every  ereature.”  But  that  was  nineteen  hundred  years 
ago.  A  large  part  of  the  work  of  the  nineteen  hundred  years— we 
read  of  in  the  scriptures  as  being  commanded  by  our  Lord  - 
has  been  done  in  the  last  one  hundred  years'  or  a  little  more. 

Take  the  American  Tract  Society  with  its  one  hundred  years; 
take  the  great  missionary  societies,  it  has  only  been  a  little  over 
one  hundred  years  since  they  went  to  preach  the  gospel  to  every 
creature.  Take  the  American  Bible  Society;  it  is  only  one  hundred 
and  ten  years  old  and  in  that  time  it  has  sent  out  seven  hundred 
millions  of  Bibles  and  parts  of  the  Bible.  Take  the  British  and 
Foreign  Bible  Society.  In  a  little  over  one  hundred  years  it  has 
with  the  American  Bible  Society,  translated  the  Bible  or  parts  in 
seven  hundred  and  seventy  different  languages  and  dialects. 

Last  year  we  celebrated  in  the  American  Bible  Society,  the  first 
whole  translation  of  the  Bible  in  the  Chinese  language  by  Mission¬ 
ary  Morrison.  We  had  there  the  edition,  the  first  whole  translation 
of  the  Bible  in  the  Chinese  language.  That  was  just  one  hundred 
years  ago  last  year. 

Think  what  a  century  this  one  hundred  years  has  been  that  the 
American  Tract  Society  has  been  working. 

Then  it  occurs  to  me  that  we  ought  not  to  forget  those  other 
ageneies  that  have  been  working  for  the  Kingdom  of  God,  not  one 
hundred  years  old,  but  within  the  one  hundred  years.  Think  of  the 
millions  of  young  men  belonging  to  the  Y.M.C.A.,  not  one  hundred 
years,  but  nearly.  Think  of  the  millions  of  young  women  who 
belong  to  the  Y.W.C.A.  Think  of  the  millions  of  young  people 
that  have  joined  the  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor  all  over  this 
country  and  throughout  the  world.  There  are  three  great  organiza¬ 
tions  that  have  carried  the  gospel  of  Christ  all  over  the  world,  in 
addition  to  the  great  organizations  which  have  lived  one  hundred 
years  or  more.  It  makes  me  think  “like  a  mighty  army  goes  the 
Church  of  God,”  and  that  army  is  composed  of  a  great  many  large 
corps  d’armes,  and  the  Traet  Society  is  one  of  the  biggest  of  those 
corps  d’armes.  It  has  been  going  forward  one  hundred  years  and 
may  it  go  on  many  hundred  years  more.  (Applause) 


22 


CENTENNIAL  CEI>EBRATION 


President  Hall:  We  have  already  mentioned  the  name  of 
one  who  is  present  with  us,  whose  presence  we  delight  in,  and 
whom  our  hearts  welcome.  I  am  going  to  ask  our  dearly  beloved 
brother  and  friend  for  many  years,  mentioned  by  myself  and  Dr. 
Cadman  particularly  in  respect  to  his  great  ministry  in  the  foreign 
missionary  cause.  Dr.  Frank  Mason  North,  former  President  of 
the  Federal  Council  of  Churches  of  Christ  in  America,  to  speak  to 
us. 


ADDRESS  OF  DR.  FRANK  MASON  NORTH 

Mr.  President,  I  never  suspected  you  would  do  this  sort  of 
thing  to  me  after  all  these  years  of  our  friendship  and  among  people 
who  know  so  well  how  limited  in  the  way  of  resources  for  unex¬ 
pected  and  extemporaneous  oratory  I  am,  to  which  my  friend. 
Dr.  Cadman  has  referred.  It  is  a  great  pleasure  to  have  reassur¬ 
ance  to  one’s  flagging  spirits,  to  one’s  broken  energies  as  one  con¬ 
fronts  the  great  problems  of  life,  problems  of  work  in  other  lands, 
and  in  this  land,  and  particularly  at  this  time  when  we  are  so 
frequently  told  in  print  and  in  speech  that  we  are  a  decadent  folk 
and  losing  our  grip,  and  that  even  now,  when  we  are  among  our 
best  friends,  the  church  hears,  “Why  the  church.^’’  I  do  not  know 
whether  you  are  in  that  place  or  not — “Why  the  church?’’  At 
this  age,  nineteen  hundred  years,  why  the  church?  It  is  reassur¬ 
ing,  is  it  not,  to  have  such  a  brilliant  genius  as  Dr.  Cadman,  tell 
us  that  we  are  after  all  doing  a  little  bit  in  the  way  of  making  the 
world  better;  that  in  spite  of  our  hesitancy  and  failure,  we  are  at 
least  publishing  tracts  and  circulating  the  Bible  and  preaching  a 
great  gospel  in  untold  numbers  of  languages  and  bringing  men 
everywhere  throughout  the  world  out  of  their  darkness  and  out 
of  their  degradation  into  the  beauty  and  sweetness  and  the  glory 
of  a  living  faith  in  Jesus  Christ. 

Really  it  is  reassuring  to  stop  long  enough  in  the  midst  of  this 
great  humming  city  to  remind  ourselves  that  God  is  moving  greatly 
in  this  world  of  ours,  not  only  along  the  paths  that  we  have  our¬ 
selves  sketched  for  Him,  not  only  within  the  boundaries  we  our¬ 
selves  have  thought  wise  to  fix  for  His  powers,  not  always  in  just 
the  kind  of  associations  that  we  have  thought  He  would  like  to  keep 
in  the  world,  but  moving  greatly  forward  and  taking  into  His  love 
and  into  His  fellowship  through  Jesus  Christ,  His  Son,  and  by  the 


AMERICAN  TRACT  S  OCIETY 


23 


power  of  His  Holy  Spirit  this  great  generation  of  ours  and  pre¬ 
paring  for  a  great  work  in  the  generation  that  is  to  come. 

Beloved  friends,  I  did  not  know  I  should  be  asked  to  say  this 
word  or  any  word  tonight.  It  was  farthest  from  my  thought  that 
I  should,  but  I  take  the  blessed  opportunity  that  comes  to  me  from 
time  to  time  to  try  to  say  to  others  what  I  say  to  myself,  “God 
lives,  Christ  has  not  lost  His  power,  the  cross  on  which  He  died  is 
the  cross  of  sacrifice  and  inaugurated  a  brilliant,  splendid  move¬ 
ment  throughout  the  world,  and  the  old  Book  is  full  of  the  revela¬ 
tion  of  God  for  the  saving  of  men,  and  everywhere  it  is  sent,  and 
everywhere  its  truths  are  put  into  your  tracts  and  into  the  great 
business  of  the  circulation  of  the  truth  through  the  spirit  of  men 
and  to  the  word  of  men.” 

There  is  a  great  movement  throughout  all  the  institutions  and 
throughout  all  the  concerns  of  men  that  tell  of  the  presence  of  the 
immanent  God  and  of  the  power  of  His  son  who  died  to  save  the 
world.  Personally,  I  am  glad  to  know  that  we  have  this  Society 
and  other  societies  and  the  churches  and  the  great  movements 
among  the  young  women  and  the  remembrances  of  these  things 
that  have  been  done  and  the  hopes  for  the  things  that  are  to  be 
done.  Let  us  be  brave,  let  us  be  humble,  tolerant  of  one  another, 
let  us  recognize  the  realities  in  each  others’  views  of  the  truth,  but 
believing  in  Jesus  Christ,  and  through  Him  do  well  the  task  that 
God  has  set  for  us. 

May  I  say  a  word  about  a  tract.?  I  think  it  was  not  published 
by  the  American  Tract  Society,  but  there  was  a  time  when  I  was 
about  fifteen  years  old,  when  I  had  begun  to  feel  the  movement  of  life 
about  me  and  within  me,  when  I  felt  somehow  there  was  something 
that  I  needed  in  my  own  heart,  and  someone  put  into  my  hand  a 
little  tract.  I  don’t  know  that  any  of  you  ever  saw  it.  I  owe  to  it 
much  of  my  life,  much  of  my  spirit  and  my  work  and  my  knowledge 
of  God  and  my  confidence  in  Jesus  Christ.  What  was  its  name,  its 
title.?  “The  Living  Christ.”  Just  that — “The  Living  Christ.” 

Not  the  dead  Christ,  not  the  Christ  of  reverence,  not  the  Christ 
of  nineteen  hundred  years  ago,  dead,  buried,  and  forgotten,  but 
the  living  Christ.  It  told  me  I  could  walk  with  Him,  companion 
with  Him,  trust  Him,  consult  Him,  depend  upon  Him,  and  that 
He  was  the  most  vital  and  real  power  and  person  in  the  life  I  was 


'24 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


living,  and  I  could  have  Him  for  myself,  and  I  took  Him  for 
myself  as  a  living  Christ.  A  living  Christ! 

I  pray  that  millions  of  such  little  messages  will  go  out  to  the 
waiting  hearts  of  the  youths,  and  the  waiting  and  wearied  hearts 
of  those  who  are  older,  to  bring  the  reality  of  the  blessed  faith  in 
Jesus  Christ.  (Applause) 

President  Hall:  We  are  delighted  to  have  this  splendid 
testimony  from  our  beloved  brother. 

I  am  going  to  call  upon  another  dear  friend  and  associate  of 
ours  in  the  work  of  the  Society  from  the  city  of  Boston :  Reverend 
Robert  Watson,  minister  of  the  First  Presbyterian  Church,  of  the 
Hub  City,  who  is  here  with  us  tonight. 

ADDRESS  OF  REV.  ROBERT  WATSON,  D.D. 

Mr.  President  and  friends :  It  is  not  necessary  in  this  presence 
and  after  the  addresses  of  this  evening,  that  I  should  add  anything 
to  what  has  been  said. 

We  serve  a  great  Christ  with  a  great  gospel.  Our  only  shame  is 
that  we  do  not  serve  Him  with  greater  capacity  and  consecration. 

Having  the  opportunity,  however,  Mr.  President,  to  say  just  a 
word  may  I  add  this:  Tonight  as  I  sat  here,  my  mind  ran  over  the 
history  of  this  great  Society,  and  I  thought  of  the  men  who  made 
this  Society  what  it  has  been,  and  the  men  who  have  made  it  what 
it  is  today.  So  I  feel  very  thankful  tonight,  sir,  for  the  men  who 
have  given  their  lives  to  it  and  have  gone  to  their  eternal  reward, 
and  I  feel  very  grateful  tonight  for  the  men  whose  lives  are  still 
spared  and  are  being  vested  in  this  great  work.  The  President  of 
this  Society,  William  Phillips  Hall;  the  \  ice-President,  Dr.  David 
Janies  Burrell,  who  was  not  able  to  be  here;  Dr.  David  G.  Wylie, 
who  led  us  in  the  invocation  because  Dr.  Burrell  was  not  present; 
Dr.  Edwin  Noah  Hardy,  one  of  the  secretaries.  Dr.  William  H. 
Matthews,  the  Secretary  of  the  Society — to  all  of  whom  we  owe 
so  much  for  its  present  vital  life. 

Thank  God  for  men  who  are  still  working  capably,  conscien¬ 
tiously,  and  constructively  in  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  and  those 

that  have  gone  before.  (Applause) 

The  Gloria  Trumpeters  played  a  selection  at  this  point. 


AISIERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


25 


President  Hall:  Now,  dear  friends,  I  want  to  speak  in  re¬ 
gard  to  the  life  and  service  of  one  who  really  perhaps  would  prefer 
that  I  should  not  speak  a  word  along  that  line;  but  for  a  great 
many  years  in  the  history  of  our  country,  we  have  had  one  devoted 
hand-maiden  of  the  Lord  in  this  country  who  has  given  her  heart 
and  her  life  to  advancing  the  Lingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Sa\  iour, 
Jesus  Christ,  along  both  spiritual  and  material  lines,  in  the  hearts 
and  lives  of  multitudes  of  our  fellow  citizens  and  people  throughout 
the  nation.  We  would  recall  the  fact  that  during  the  Spanish- 
American  War,  she  ministered  to  the  boys  in  the  navy;  of  her 
noble  work  for  them  which  took  definite  and  concrete  form  in  that 
beautiful  building  of  the  Naval  Branch  of  the  Y.M.C.A.  in  Brook¬ 
lyn;  and  of  her  constant  ministry  in  their  behalf  in  other  ways,  all 
of  which  made  the  name  of  “our  Helen”  beloved  by  millions.  In 
later  years,  she  has  given  herself  very  largely  to  the  support  and 
forwarding  of  the  interest  of  Christian  education  and  such  work 
as  is  carried  on  by  the  American  Tract  Society.  She  has  contributed 
to  the  printing  of  tracts  in  various  foreign  languages,  those  tracts 
being  made  up  of  extracts  of  the  living  written  Word  of  God. 
She  has  been  doing  a  great  amount  of  work.  She  is  one  of  the  Hon¬ 
orary  Vice-Presidents  of  the  Society.  We  are  honored  in  our 
association  with  her.  I  don’t  know  whether  she  will  care  to  speak, 
but  I  wish  to  say  that  in  the  name  of  our  Lord  we  delight  to  honor 
and  have  associated  with  us  in  this  great  cause  Mrs.  Finley  J. 
Shepard. 

The  members  arose  and  ajiplauded. 

ADDRESS  BY  MRS.  FINLEY  J.  SHEPARD 

Mr.  President,  I  am  deeply  touched  by  these  kindly  words 
which  I  fear  are  not  at  all  deserved,  for  my  work  has  been  poor 
and  small  and  weak  compared  with  what  the  rest  of  you  have 
done. 

May  I  say  one  word?  Have  any  of  you  ever  tried  to  find  the 
sermons  of  a  minister  ancestor?  That  is  what  I  have  been  trying 
to  do  of  late,  to  find  the  sermons  of  an  ancestor  who  came  from 
England  may  years  ago,  and  was  a  clergyman  in  Concord,  Vlassa- 
chusetts,  for  twenty-five  years,  being  the  founder  of  the  church 
there.  He  lived  three  hundred  years  ago.  If  any  of  you  can  tell 
me  how  to  find  the  sermons  of  Reverend  Peter  Buckley,  I  shall  be 
very  grateful.  He  also  was  called  “the  thundering  preacher.” 


26 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


The  other  ancestor  was  the  Reverend  Samuel  Wakeman.  I  found 
three  sermons  this  morning  and  decided  he  also  might  well  have 
been  called  “the  thundering  preacher”  because  of  the  way  he 
grappled  with  the  consciences  of  his  parishioners. 

Now  if  I  am  seeking  this  three  hundred  years  after  my  ancestors 
have  gone  to  know  what  they  stood  for,  how  much  more  will  your 
descendants  or  your  collateral  descendants  some  day  be  trying  to 
find  what  you  have  stood  for  and  what  message  you  have  given, 
and  whether  you  have  stood  faithfully  by  our  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ  and  by  the  word  of  God.  (Applause) 

President  Hall:  Among  those  most  devoted  and  interested 
in  the  work,  is  Mr.  S.  B.  Chapin.  May  we  have  a  word  of  greeting 
from  him? 

Mr.  S.  B.  Chapin:  The  hour  is  so  late  and  you  have  heard 
so  many  good  speeches  that  I  will  not  say  anything.  (Applause) 

President  Hall  :  And  may  our  good  friend.  Dr.  Carter,  of  the 
New  York  Bible  Society,  have  a  word  for  us? 

Dr.  Carter:  The  New  York  Bible  Society  is  very  glad  to  be 
represented  here  and  extend  congratulations  and  good  wishes  to 
the  xCmerican  Tract  Society.  The  representatives  of  the  American 
Tract  Society  and  the  representatives  of  the  New  York  Bible 
Society  have  been  working  together  for  a  long  time  and  we  feel 
we  are  in  very  close  cooperation. 

I  have  been  connected  with  the  New  York  Bible  Society  for 
eighteen  years,  and  at  that  time,  eighteen  years  ago,  there  was  a 
Commissioner  at  Ellis  Island,  Commissioner  Watchhorn,  who  was 
the  man  who  began  to  make  the  improvements  that  have  been 
carried  on  at  Ellis  Island,  and  I  think  we  are  fortunate  in  having 
Commissioner  Watchhorn  here  tonight.  He  commended  the  great 
work  of  tract  and  Bible  distribution  that  has  been  carried  on  jointly 
by  the  American  Tract  and  New  York  Bible  Societies  for  the  immi¬ 
grants  as  they  land. 

It  is  interesting  to  recognize  the  fact  that  this  last  year  the 
eight  hundredth  translation  of  the  Bible  has  been  reached.  (Ap¬ 
plause) 

President  Hall:  And  now  may  we  have  the  great  pleasure 
of  receiving  a  message  from  Commissioner  Watchhorn?  We  should 
be  delighted  to  have  a  word  from  you,  sir. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


27 


Commissioner  Watchhorn:  Mr.  President,  it  surely  is  a  great 
surprise  to  me  to  be  ealled  on  to  say  a  word  at  the  American  Tract 
Society.  I  regret  very  much  that  Doctor  Burrell  is  absent.  One 
of  the  reasons  why  I  dropped  in  here  tonight  was  to  see  him. 
Another  reason  was  that  I  wanted  to  hear  my  friend,  Doctor 
Cadman,  and  my  other  friend,  Doctor  North,  and  to  hear  how  the 
wonderful  Society  was  getting  along. 

I  have  not  been  able  to  tell  you  what  a  joy  it  was  to  me  to 
cooperate  with  Dr.  Carter  when  he  first  came  to  Ellis  Island  to 
introduce  this  great  work,  because  unfortunately,  about  seven 
weeks  ago,  I  was  thrown  into  unexpected  competition  with  one  of 
Mr.  Ford’s  cars,  and  I  have  only  just  gotten  out  of  a  hospital,  and 
am  not  able  to  stand  very  long,  and  certainly  not  capable  of  ex¬ 
pressing  myself  as  I  should  like  to  do  on  this  occasion. 

I  thank  you  very,  very  much.  I  am  delighted  to  know  that  the 
Ameriean  Tract  Society  is  progressing  and  has  prospered  so  well. 
No  one  knows  better  than  I  what  a  wonderful  Society  it  is,  what  a 
w’onderful  work  it  is  doing  and  has  done,  and  I  rejoice  as  Doctor 
Cadman  does,  when  the  Tract  Society’s  representatives  came  when 
we  were  boys  on  the  other  side.  If  you  can  only  keep  up  your 
good  work  and  keep  such  a  spirit  alive  and  such  accomplishments 
daily  arrived  at,  you  will  have  a  great  reward,  each  and  every  one 
of  you,  as  individuals  and  as  a  Society. 

Thank  you  very  much.  (Applause) 

President  Hall;  And  now  in  conclusion,  we  have  had  a  most 
blessed  time  here  tonight  I  think  we  all  agree.  We  have  enjoyed 
the  unity  of  the  spirit  in  the  bond  of  peace,  and  we  rejoice  indeed 
over  the  warm  gracious  testimonies  that  have  been  given  by  many 
to  the  good  work  of  this  old  Society  under  God,  and  now  we  are 
going  forward  into  our  two  hundredth  year  and  are  looking  forward 
to  a  period  of  great  usefulness.  We  must  increase  the  facilities 
and  output  of  the  American  Tract  Society.  Its  work  will  be  more 
vital,  more  important,  more  essentially  necessary  to  the  onward 
march  of  the  Church  of  Christ  in  coming  days  than  in  all  the  past. 

WT  have  provided  every  one  here  tonight  with  the  copy  of  the 
splendid  report  of  our  General  Secretary,  Dr.  Matthews.  We 
have  here  represented  also  the  Executive  Secretaryship  in  our 
friend  and  associate.  Dr.  Hardy,  who,  with  Dr.  Matthews,  is 


28 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


giving  the  American  Tract  Society  with  those  associated  with 
them,  the  most  efficient,  business-like,  energetic  and  vitally  suc¬ 
cessful  administration  that  I  have  ever  known  it  to  possess  within 
the  period  of  my  knowledge  of  its  affairs.  God  bless  them!  So 
far  as  the  members  of  the  Board  of  Managers  are  concerned  and 
the  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  its  constituent  com¬ 
mittees,  the  Publication  Committee,  the  Distribution  Committee, 
and  all  the  other  committees,  they  are  all  likewise  doing  their  part 
and  contributing  toward  the  onward  work  of  the  Society  for  the 
dissemination  of  the  knowledge  of  our  blessed  Lord  according  to 
the  teachings  of  His  book,  the  Bible. 

iVe  rejoice  in  this  Anniversary  Meeting  which  we  have  had 
together.  We  have  had  occasion  to  praise  and  thank  God  as  we 
listened  to  testimonies  coiping  from  the  heart  as  well  as  the  head. 
We  rejoice  in  the  burning  messages  of  Doctor  Cadman,  and  Doctor 
North,  and  all  of  the  others  inclucfing  that  Christly  address  of  our 
dear  brother  in  Christ,  Mr.  Bryan.  By  the  way,  before  he  went 
out  I  got  a  promise  from  him  of  a  number  of  tracts  that  we  can  use 
and  distribute  by  hundreds  of  thousands  throughout  the  length 
and  breadth  of  the  land.  (Applause) 

We  stated  there  was  to  be  no  solicitation  of  funds  tonight, 
and  there  is  to  be  none,  but  I  suggest  that  you  all  ask  the  dear 
Lord  to  show  you  how  you  may  cooperate  with  these  noble  people 
associated  together  here  tonight,  in  the  work  of  the  American 
Tract  Society,  and  then  may  you  proceed  as  His  gracious  Spirit 
may  lead  you. 

In  conclusion  I  am  going  to  ask  our  good  friend  and  active 
member  on  the  Executive  Committee,  Dr.  David  G.  Wylie,  to 
lead  us  in  a  word  of  closing  prayer  and  dismiss  us. 

Dr.  Wylie:  We  thank  Thee,  O  Lord,  for  this  memorable 
occasion,  for  the  addresses,  suggestive  and  stimulating  and  in¬ 
spiring  that  have  been  delivered.  Once  more  we  thank  Thee  for 
the  past  and  trust  Thee  for  the  future.  We  rejoice  that  our  God 
controls  the  wisdom  of  the  world  and  the  wealth  of  the  world. 
We  come  seeking  and  looking  for  Thy  blessing  and  Thy  benedic¬ 
tion.  Defend  us  by  Thy  almighty  power  through  the  night, 
conduct  us  safely  through  the  journey  of  life,  and  bring  us  at  last 
to  our  Father’s  house. 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


29 


And  now  may  the  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  with  us  and  abide 
with  us  forever.  Amen. 

President  Hall;  And  now  before  we  adjourn.  Dr.  Mylie  has 
a  motion. 

Dr.  Wylie;  Mr.  President,  I  am  sure  we  all  unite  in  this 
consensus  of  opinion  that  this  has  been  a  memorable  occasion. 
President  Hall,  you  have  transformed  this  hall  into  a  university 
by  gathering  together  a  brilliant  group  of  speakers.  I  would  like 
to  thank  every  speaker,  but  especially  I  wish  to  move  that  we  give 
a  hearty  vote  of  thanks  to  Mr.  Bryan  and  Doctor  Cadman. 

The  motion  was  seconded. 

President  Hall;  Those  in  favor  respond  by  saying  “aye”; 
contrary  “no”.  Thank  you.  It  is  a  vote. 

The  session  is  now  dismissed.  May  God  be  with  you. 

The  meeting  adjourned  at  10;30  o’clock. 

Adjournment. 


PRESIDENT 


VICE-PRESIDENT 


William  Phillips  Hall 


Her.  David  James  Burrell,  D.D. 


GENERAL  SECRETARY 


Rev.  William  Henry  Matthews,  D.D 


EXECUTIVE  SECRETARY 


Rev.  Edwin  Noah  Hardy,  Pk.D, 


AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


31 


OFFICERS 

OF  THE 

AMERICAN  TRACT  SOCIETY 


President 

WILLIAM  PHILLIPS  HALL 


Vice-President 

DAVID  JAMES  BURRELI>,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


Honorary  Vice-Presidents 


H.  A.  Stimson,  N.  Y. 

J.  DeWitt,  N.  J. 

F.  L.  Patton,  Bermuda 
J.  B.  Remensnyder,  N.  Y. 
D.  P.  Fullerton,  Mo. 
Francis  E.  Clark,  Mass. 
John  McNaugher,  Pa. 

W.  L.  McEwan,  Pa. 
Augustus  W.  Benedict,  Mo. 
D.  S.  Kennedy,  Pa. 

W.  M.  Anderson,  Texas 
W,  W.  Moore,  Va. 

H.  K.  Walker,  Cal. 

Henry  E.  Cobb,  N.  Y. 
James  L.  Barton,  Mass. 
Charles  A.  Eaton,  N.  Y. 

J.  A.  Ingham,  N.  J. 

Charles  E.  Hughes,  D.  C. 
Joseph  F.  Berry,  Pa. 

S.  H.  Woodrow,  Mass. 
George  C.  Peck,  Md. 
Robert  L.  Rudolph,  Pa. 
William  J,  Bryan,  Fla. 
James  Wood,  N.  Y. 

Simeon  E.  Baldwin,  Conn. 
Howard  Elliott,  N.  Y. 
Luther  B.  Wilson,  N.  Y. 


John  Timothy  Stone,  Ill. 

Harry  V.  Bonner,  N.  Y. 
Charles  S.  Whitman,  N.  Y. 

J.  Ackerman  Cole,  N.  Y. 

J.  Ross  Stevenson,  N.  J. 
Cortland  Myers,  Calif. 

Carl  E.  Milliken,  Me. 

John  R.  Mott,  N.  Y. 

Robert  Johnston,  Canada 
Josephus  Daniels,  N.  C. 

John  A.  Marquis,  N.  Y, 

A.  Z.  Conrad,  Mass. 

E.  Francis  Hyde,  N.  Y. 

Joseph  S.  Frelinghuysen,  N.  J. 
Mrs.  Finley  J.  Shepard,  N.  Y. 
Mrs.  E.  E.  Olcott,  N.  Y. 

Mrs.  William  Borden,  N.  Y. 
Charles  F.  Darlington,  N.  Y. 
Robert  Dick  Wilson,  N.  J. 
Floyd  W.  Tomkins,  Pa. 

Ernest  M.  Stires,  N.  Y. 

Emory  W.  Hunt,  Pa. 

Roger  W.  Babson,  Mass. 
August  Heckscher,  N.  Y. 
Wilbert  W.  White,  N.  Y. 

S.  Parkes  Cadman,  N.  Y. 
James  M.  Gray,  Ill. 


General  Secretary 

WILLIAM  HENRY  MATTHEWS,  D.D. 

Executive  Secretary  and  Recording  Secretary 
REV.  EDWIN  NOAH  HARDY,  PH.D. 

Assistant  Treasurer 
ARTHUR  W.  COBBETT 


# 


32 


CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


MANAGERS 


Howard  Payson  Wilds,  N.  Y. 
Roderick  Terry,  R.  I. 

David  G.  Wylie,  N.  Y. 

J.  Humpstone,  N.  Y. 

A.  G.  Lawson,  N.  Y. 

James  D.  Steele,  N.  J. 

I.  H.  Hoyt,  Conn. 

W.  D.  Buchanan,  N.  Y. 

F.  M.  Goodchild,  N.  Y. 

Lewis  B.  Gawtry,  N.  Y. 

F.  Clare  Baldwin,  N.  J. 

Charles  Carroll  Albertson,  N.  Y. 
John  E.  Lloyd,  N.  Y. 

Edgar  Tilton,  N.  Y. 

J.  R.  Mackay,  N.  Y. 

William  L.  Amerman,  N.  Y. 
William  H.  Kephart,  N.  Y. 
Alexander  S.  Lyman,  N.  Y. 


William  K.  Gilchrist,  N.  Y. 
Arthur  F.  Warren,  N.  Y. 
Charles  H.  Zehnder,  N.  Y. 
George  Caleb  Moor,  N.  Y. 
John  F.  Chalmers,  Conn. 
Thomas  W.  Davidson,  N.  Y. 
John  H.  Strong,  N.  Y. 

James  P.  Lytle,  N.  Y. 

Otto  F.  Bartholow,  N.  Y. 
Hans  P.  Freece,  N.  Y. 

James  Palmer,  N.  Y. 

Thomas  H.  McKenzie,  N.  Y. 
Harold  Paul  Sloan,  N.  Y. 
Robert  Russell,  N.  Y, 

Joseph  Frederick  Berg,  N.  Y 
Curtis  Lee  Laws,  N.  Y. 
Howard  B.  Gross,  N.  Y. 


EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE 

Publishing  Committee 

David  James  Burrell  David  G.  Wylie 

Frederick  H.  Knubel  Newell  Dwight  Hillis 

Robert  M.  Kurtz  Finis  S.  Idleman 


Distributing  Committee 

Silas  F,  Hallock  Robert  Scott  Inglis 

Isaac  W.  Gowen  Edgar  Franklin  Romig 

Robert  Watson  Frank  A.  Hosmer 

Finance  Committee 

S.  B.  Chapin 
Carlton  E.  Hunt 
J.  Frederick  Talcott 


Auditors 

LOOMIS,  SUFFERN  and  FERNALD 
Counsel 

WILLIAM  H.  VAN  STEENBERGH 


William  Phillips  Hall 
Philip  S.  Suffern 
S.  V.  V.  Huntington 


